Adapt, survive or else

Marshall Bwanya
OUR political, social and economic environment is constantly changing as time goes by.  Some young people are so much intact with their favourable past experiences that there are  reluctant to embrace the inevitable change. We are constantly in the transition phases of growing up, pursuing a different career or building new relationships.

The reason why the dinosaur is extinct is because it failed to adapt and adjust to new environmental changes.
Survival of the fittest does not mean the continued existence of the strongest but means survival of those who are best suited for the environment.

To best suited for the environment, one has to adapt to that particular new environment.
Martha Kapinji (26) said adapting to environments does not necessarily mean you have to conform to the standards of that particular environment if it retrogressive to your career.

“In my five-year stay in South Africa I was exposed to an environment where most of  my peers drank, smoked.
“Fellow Zimbabwean would come back with kids that do not have fathers.

“I adapted to that environment but did not conform to bad delinquent practices by allowing my own conscience to guide my decisions,” she said.
The social environment at O-Level is different from A-Level, as much as it is from varsity level.

Young people’s minds must be flexible to embrace changes as they grow older.
The friends one has at O-Level may not be  the same friends he/she will have at A-Level or college and varsity, because as people grow they develop contradicting ideologies that shift them away from each other.

It is important to identify the nature of a social environment, whether it is hostile, challenging or competitive before one executes his/her plans to blend in.

Young people should have flexible mindsets to adjust to constant environmental changes.
If a person fails to adapt to new social environments they face the consequences of being irrelevant or isolated.

Bulawayo hip-hop sensation Farai “F.O.D” Manyeka (28) said he had to adopt to the hip-hop trends to be relevant to the hip-hop fans.
“Back in the days I was an underground hip-hop artiste who focused on various underground collaborations but times have changed and the new trend of hip-hop on demand is commercial.

“I had to be flexible and move from underground to commercial music to meet people’s demands.
“Now I am more of an entertainer than a hip-hop artiste because that is what current audiences require,” he said.

Aspiring journalist Bernard Mapwanyire (24) said he is constantly adapting to new environments to enlarge his social circle.
“I have adapted to different types of social environments.

“A flexible mind that can adapt to new environments made me realise that every environment has its governing cultural norms and values.
For instance, how you relate with your friends in the streets is not how relate with bosses and fellow employees in a work environment,” he said.